Two Aurora Democrats who serve together in the state House — Rhonda Fields and Su Ryden — have filed to run for the Senate seat now held by Senate Minority Leader Morgan Carroll, who will be term limited after 2016.

In addition, Democrat Steve Fenberg also announced his candidacy this week for the seat now held by Assistant Minority Leader Rollie Heath of Boulder, who also is term limited. Fenberg founded the liberal group New Era Colorado almost a decade ago.

Ryden filed to run in January; Fields filed last Thursday with the secretary of state. The primary will be in June 2016.

“I guess I was a little surprised because she’s not term limited yet,” Ryden said of Field’s entry into the race. “But everybody has a right to run.”

Fields said she wants to help people on a wider scale than her House seat.

So far, no other candidates have filed to run in Senate District 29 — which includes Aurora and eastern Arapahoe County — but a Republican is sure to enter the race. Carroll sat on the commission that helped redraw legislative boundaries and she voted to make safe seats, such as hers, more competitive. The current active voter registration from the secretary of state shows: Democrats, 38 percent; unaffiliated, 35 percent; and Republicans, 26 percent.

Ryden chairs the state affairs committee, commonly referred to as the “kill committee” because no matter which party is in charge it’s typically the place where the majority usually sends bills to die. “My legislative priorities are families, jobs and small business,” she wrote on her web page. “I am committed to working with our military community at Buckley AFB, and helping our veterans.”

Carroll’s longtime boyfriend, Mike Weissman, has filed to run for Ryden’s seat.

She also is focused on criminal-justice issues. Her son and his fiance, Javad Marshall-Fields and Vivian Wolfe, were murdered almost a decade ago because he planned to testify at an upcoming trial. The pair has just graduated from Colorado State University. Their killers are on death row.

Democratic Sens. Morgan Carroll of Aurora and Rollie Heath of Boulder share a hug after the 2012 election. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

As for Fenberg, he said in a news release that he is running because he believes “politics shouldn’t be about money or power, but about improving people’s lives and the world we live in.”

He said New Era Colorado, with lots of help, registered more than 100,000 voters, “modernized” Colorado’s election system, and led the historic, grassroots “Campaign for Local Power” to create a local electric utility which invests in clean energy.

“I’m running to take this work to the next level, to unapologetically fight for bold action against the climate crisis, to open the doors of our democracy to those who are too often locked out, to create more opportunity for Coloradans to build the life they deserve.,” he said.

So far, no one else has announced for the seat, which is a Democratic stronghold. The active voter registration breakdown is: Democrats, 47 percent; unaffiliated, 37 percent; and Republicans, 14 percent.

Another hot Senate race to watch in 2016 features Democratic Rep. Daniel Kagan of Cherry Hills Village and Arapahoe County Commissioner Nancy Doty, a Republican, for the seat now held by Sen. Linda Newell, a Littleton Democrat who is term limited. That Senate seat is extremely competitive, according to active voter registration data from the secretary of state: unaffiliated, 35 percent; Democrats, 32 percent; and Republicans, 31 percent.

Steve Fenberg, the founder of New Era Colorado, has filed to run for the Democratic nomination for Senate District 18, the seat now held by Democrat Sen. Rollie Heath of Boulder, who is term limited. (Photo from Fenberg)

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.